Kolkata: Auditor Deloitte identified weaknesses in internal controls of VerSe Innovation Pvt Ltd, which is the parent of content platform Dailyhunt and short-video app Josh, but submitted a clean opinion on the company’s books of accounts for FY24, said reports. The bottom line: the issues identified by Deloitte did not amount to a qualification of the accounts, which portrayed a fair view of the consolidated financial statements.
“Deloitte has issued a true and fair view of our FY24 consolidated financial statements, providing a clean audit opinion on our financials. While Deloitte identified certain internal control weaknesses, their report has clearly confirmed that these findings do not impact their opinion on the consolidated financial statements, which is true and fair… We are fully committed to strengthening our internal controls and remain confident in our plan to achieve break-even in the second half of this financial year,” said a spokesperson of VerSe Innovation.
Weakness in a few areas
A report in the Business Standard said the auditor flagged weaknesses in the internal controls of VerSe Innovation. It also pointed out inadequate oversight in a various domains such as supplier selection, purchase approvals, invoicing, and payments. The audit firm also went to the extent of issuing warning that these could lead to asset misappropriation and material misstatements in trade payables and expense accounts.
These findings were a part of the consolidated financial statements that VerSe’s submi9tted to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) on Monday, April 28, 2025. “We have considered the material weaknesses identified and reported above in determining the nature, timing, and extent of audit tests applied in our audit of the consolidated financial statements of the company for the year ended March 31, 2024, and these material weaknesses do not affect our opinion on the said consolidated financial statements of the company (our report on the consolidated financial statements includes an emphasis of matter paragraph in respect of retrospective adjustments made in the corresponding figures for the year ended March 31, 2023),” the auditor firm mentioned in the MCA filing.
Key financials in FY24
VerSe Innovation recorded total revenue of Rs 1,261 crore that included Rs 232 crore from non-operating income. The cost of services registered a 17% decline from Rs 1,389 crore in FY23 to Rs 1,155 crore in FY24. There was a huge reduction of 65% in business promotion expenses that went down from Rs 969 crore in FY23 to Rs 339 crore in FY24. Operating profit (EBITDA) suffered a 51% reduction (y-o-y) from Rs 1,448 crore in FY23 to Rs 710 crore in FY24 (excluding non-cash expenses).
Bengaluru-based VerSe Innovation was set up in 2007 by Virendra Gupta and Umang Bedi. It is a developer of a short-video platform and technology infrastructure. The company had raised $1.2 billion in funding from investors such as CPP Investments, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Qatar Investment Authority etc. YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook are the key competitors of the company.
VerSe management expects that it would achieve a revenue surge of 75% in FY25 against a 10-15% growth in digital advertising industry in the country. The company management thinks it would break even in H2 2025.
The weaknesses flagged by Deloitte were mainly concerned with some internal control weaknesses but the FY24 accounts represented a fair condition of the Bengaluru-based company which hopes to achieve break even in the second half of FY25. Biz News Business News – Personal Finance News, Share Market News, BSE/NSE News, Stock Exchange News Today
